Guarding the Pass

Lu Zhen came to an abrupt stop. He lightly tapped the tip of his foot against a piece of withered wood and landed steadily, without even stirring an extra wisp of wind.

Nie Xingkong followed closely, landing on loose stones several steps away.

Lu Zhen turned to look at him. "Well?"

Nie Xingkong stared at the young man in green robes before him, his expression incomparably complicated.

"At Mount Tai, you used a Mystic Comprehension Tier saber technique and astonished the world." Nie Xingkong shook his head, his voice filled with heartfelt admiration. "I never expected you to have trained your movement technique to the Mystic Comprehension Tier as well."

"With the boost from your inner landscape... you can actually match me evenly."

"Impressive."

The two did not continue forward. Instead, they turned around and slowly headed back the way they had come.

Nie Xingkong lowered his head in thought for a while. When he looked up again, some of the despair had faded from his eyes.

"Since you possess such a movement technique, we may be able to try holding Iron Wire Valley."

"The two of us can join forces and see whether we can delay them for a while. If we truly cannot hold out, it will not be too late to retreat."

Nie Xingkong saw the situation clearly.

With such a movement technique at his disposal, so long as Lu Zhen did not foolishly confront those four monsters head-on or let himself be surrounded—

given their speed, there was still a sliver of hope if the two of them fought a mobile battle and maneuvered around the enemy.

Lu Zhen nodded.

"Senior Nie, rest assured. I will not throw my life away blindly."

"If it comes to it, we'll retreat."

The two quickly returned to the camp